Burning Pastures
/Sunday, I spent the day helping my family burn hundreds of acres of grassland in the Flint Hills of Kansas.
Originally, this Spring ritual of burning grassland began with Native Americans who lived in the Midwestern Plains. They noticed that after a grass fire, caused by a lightning strike, within a few days green, dense, nutritious bluestem grass would cover the land. Bison herds gravitated to the new grass as did other wildlife. Thus, Native Americans began the original practice of what you might hear today called "controlled burning" or "prescribed burning."
This type of burning helps to reduce wildfires that spread quickly in areas of dead grass and wild cedar trees. It also removes the underbrush that blocks sunlight from allowing new grass to grow. And, in naturally removing weeds, burning reduces the use of pesticides.
Wild animals and cattle who will summer on the land, benefit from the nutritious bluestem that has deep roots and thus grows quickly and evenly after a burn. Here is what it looks like in the process:
This got me thinking about what we may need to burn away in our own lives.
old ways of thinking
chronic self-doubt
biases and judgments
places we feel silenced
clutter in our homes and minds
patterns of self-sabotage
worries and fears
things that no longer serve us
regrets, guilt, resentment, and shame
Let it burn.
And then the light comes in.
And new life returns.
What can you burn away and where might you trust that new life will spring from the ashes?
As Spring is beginning to bloom around us, think about a "prescribed burning" in your own life. What is it time to let go of?
It may feel empty and charred for a bit, but when there is space for light to reach the soil, the glory begins.
Let it go...then let it grow.
Sending you love and peace,
